Many of us will have been there at some point - there's nothing left in the fridge or the kitchen cupboards and payday hasn't quite come round it.

At best, it's frustrating and means you need to think quickly and cleverly about how you're going to make those last few pennies work.

At worst, it could be the sign of a greater problem involving your finances - and something you may need to get advice and support for.

Whatever your situation, the Liverpool Echo took a look at how you can buy a week’s worth of food shopping for less than £7 - without needing to wait for the reduced stickers.

So, start by checking out supermarket price comparison websites. It’s important to do this when you’re trying to keep your budget to an average spend of less than £1 a day and, if you have access to more than one store, that will also help.

Create a meal plan

Create a set meal plan before you go shopping, work out what ingredients you will need for each of the meals - and then stick to that to keep your budget to where you want it.

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Taking some time out before the working week starts, batch cook a few meals which you can warm up again later. Importantly, prepare a few snacks for when any cravings set in - but you will need some storage containers for this.

Set out below is one idea of a shopping list and a series of meals and snacks, which you can choose to use if you wish.

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Drain the potatoes and combine both pans together in a casserole-type dish but make sure to leave out several chunks of potato.

Using the spare potato, mash it and spread it thinly over the top of the casserole and put that under the grill at 180C for 12 minutes or until brown and crispy.

Pancakes and bacon (a few depending on thickness)

Pancakes and bacon

Ingredients: One egg, 50g of oats and 150ml of milk for the pancakes, 70g of bacon and a bit of lard to fry it all in.

Method: Because there is no access to flour on this budget, you can blend down the oats to make oat flour. If you don’t have a blender, a bowl and repeated grinding should do the trick but will require some elbow grease.

Put a pan onto a medium heat with a little bit of lard to stop the mixture from sticking. Get a whisk or fork and combine the egg, oat flour and milk in a bowl and pour that into the pan until the surface is covered.

Method: Count how many slices of bread you have and split that up evenly over the week when you have planned for a sandwich or toast and jam (see below). A thin layer of lard will moisten up the sandwich and, again, split the pork and bacon, which you should fry in a pan, between the bread.

The snacks

Scones and jam (between eight and 10)

Ingredients: 260g of oats, 60g lard and 100ml water

Method: Use the same trick for oat flour as outlined in the pancakes recipe.

Scones for snacks

Melt down the lard, it should make approximately 100ml of liquid, and add that to the oat flour and mix in the water using your hands.

Then break off pieces of the mixture, which should combine very quickly, into about eight to 10 similar-sized chunks and shape them into scones.

Place them on a baking tray and pop in a preheated oven at 220C for 15 minutes.

Also, think cut up carrot sticks and toast with jam for other snack ideas.